"Of course, no problem."
Upon hearing Peggy's request, Adam agreed without hesitation.
After hanging up the phone, Adam fell into deep thought.
Ever since Peggy and Sheldon started college, nearly seven years had passed without Adam seeing her.
Although they were friends, Peggy was not Sheldon.
So even though Peggy was studying right next door at Princeton University in New Jersey, Adam had never visited her.
Because it would always remind him of Juno's smiling face…
That said, Adam still had Peggy's address and phone number, and they had spoken a few times over the years—though most of their conversations were just Peggy complaining about Sheldon.
Now, out of nowhere, Peggy had called him, invited him over, and asked for his help. It was a bit unusual, but of course, he couldn't refuse.
After all, Peggy had contributed quite a few wisdom points to him every year.
### On the Other End of the Line
After hanging up, Peggy flashed a sly smile as memories from the past few years surfaced in her mind.
Seven years ago, just like Sheldon, she had enrolled at Princeton University at the age of eleven, becoming one of the youngest college students ever.
With an intellect surpassing even Sheldon's, she chose mathematics—the crown jewel of the sciences—as her field of study. By the age of fourteen, she had earned her Ph.D. and was hired as a research fellow at Princeton.
Her mother had been by her side since her parents' divorce.
Scientific research requires an immense amount of dedication, and after earning her Ph.D., she set her sights on solving the Millennium Prize Problems.
Besides occasional phone calls with Sheldon—whose intelligence and mathematical talent were on par with hers—she was wholly devoted to her research.
But her mother was still only in her early forties, and the monotonous life of accompanying Peggy took its toll. As Peggy grew older and became increasingly absorbed in her studies, her mother's desire for companionship and romance only grew stronger.
Not long ago, her mother met a middle-aged man named David and fell head over heels in love.
Back when Peggy's parents divorced, the reason was that her mother had been too focused on raising her genius daughter—so much so that Peggy's father had complained, saying she gave him no attention at all. The resulting tension eventually led to their divorce.
At the time, Peggy blamed herself, believing that she was the reason her family had fallen apart. For a while, she even considered abandoning her genius status and living as an ordinary girl.
After the divorce, her mother followed her to Princeton, supporting her studies for seven years—proof of just how much she loved her.
Now, however, with David in the picture, her mother had essentially let go of her.
The stark contrast between her mother's past dedication and her newfound passion only emphasized the intensity of her current romance.
Unlike Sheldon, Peggy had not only extraordinary intelligence but also exceptional emotional intelligence. She didn't resent her mother's new relationship, but after years of being her mother's sole focus, the sudden change left her feeling a bit lost.
Adding to that, she had recently hit a bottleneck in her research, and her emotions were becoming increasingly unstable.
With only one and a half friends in the world, she started bothering Sheldon more and more.
Sheldon, however, had no patience for it.
"Why are you telling me this?"
"I've read books. Missy told me about this. I know what it means! I have absolutely no interest in this filthy, primitive human desire for physical interaction."
"Instead of wasting time on this nonsense, why don't you focus more on solving mathematical problems?"
"No wonder you've hit a bottleneck—your mind is being clouded by such base desires! I suggest you watch some anime or play some video games."
"What? You're not interested?"
"Oh, boy!"
"Girls really are troublesome! I thought only Missy was like this, but I can't believe someone with intelligence close to mine would be as well!"
"Then again, it makes sense. Historically, there haven't been many outstanding female scientists. Newton, Einstein, Planck—they were all men. Now I think I understand why."
"If you really can't resist the call of your biological instincts, I suggest you find Adam."
"Based on what my brother George often complains about, Adam seems to have unparalleled talent in that area."
"Even Missy seems quite interested in him."
"Since you're both girls, I assume the experience would be about the same."
"Besides, Adam is just over in New York, right next to New Jersey. He's much closer than I am, and finding him would be far more productive than repeatedly harassing me over the phone."
"Am I sure? How many times do I have to say it? Of course, I'm sure!"
"If you keep calling me about topics I have no interest in, rather than actual academic discussions, I won't answer your calls anymore."
"Last time, some guy had the audacity to argue with me about plot holes in The Flash! Like you, he was too distracted by primitive desires to even grasp the basic storyline."
"If he had dedicated as much time as I do to reading comics, such an embarrassing mistake would never have happened!"
"Today is comic book day, and a new issue of The Flash is out. I'm going to buy it and enjoy it. That's it!"
With that, Sheldon immediately hung up the phone.
Hearing the dial tone, Peggy gritted her teeth in frustration.
Girls mature faster than boys—especially a genius girl like her.
Sheldon was an intelligent and good-looking boy her age, and years ago, she had subtly tried to bring up these topics with him.
But Sheldon was completely oblivious, showing zero interest. To him, Peggy's flirtations were nothing more than annoying distractions.
After years of failed attempts, Sheldon had grown utterly exasperated with her "harassment." If it weren't for the fact that he had no other friends of comparable intelligence and age, he would have blocked her long ago.
In his mind, science and trains were his true loves, his mother and grandmother were his anchors, and comics and video games were his sources of relaxation.
What more could he possibly need?
After years of trial and error, Peggy had come to the conclusion that Sheldon might genuinely be asexual. Delayed development could only explain so much.
If she had known his future, she would have understood everything.
In the original timeline, Sheldon didn't start dating Amy until he was around twenty-eight. Even then, Amy—frustrated by his complete lack of interest—had to use every trick in the book for five or six years before he finally gave in and offered himself as her birthday present.
Even after they got married, their marital intimacy (or lack thereof) became an ongoing joke among everyone who knew them.
If he weren't truly uninterested, how else could that happen?
Penny constantly speculated about Sheldon's sexuality.
Was he into women? Men? Something else entirely?
When Sheldon announced that he was "giving himself to Amy for her birthday," everyone was so shocked it was as if they had seen God.
Even his mother—the person who loved him most and knew him best—admitted at his wedding that she had never expected this day to come.
She had truly believed her "Shelly" would be alone forever.
If grown-up Sheldon was like this, then what could be expected of the childlike Sheldon of today?
He genuinely found Peggy's advances unbearable.
And at last, Peggy gave up—shifting her attention to that "half-friend" she had left…
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